Aaron Sorkin’s ("The West Wing") effort to make his debut as a librettist on Broadway as a part of the musical based on the life of magician Harry Houdini has been derailed by his HBO series "The Newsroom," reports Deadline.com.

“Sorkin has put a lot of work into the musical, but had to drop out because of scheduling,” the piece reports. “He had to go back and write the second season of his HBO series creation ‘The Newsroom,’ which will be broadcast in the summer. He’s also hard at work adapting the Walter Isaacson book ‘Steve Jobs’ for a feature film for Sony Pictures on the Apple genius.”

The Broadway production of “Houdini,” which will star Hugh Jackman, is targeting an opening during the 2013-14 season, creating a crunch for Sorkin and prompting his departure from the venture.

“Sorkin’s reps are in conversations with the ‘Houdini’ producers for them to continue developing the musical utilizing Sorkin’s initial concepts and other materials,” the report notes. “Stephen Schwartz is writing the music and Scott Sanders and David Rockwell are producing.”